Intentions Revealed
by Louise Ellis
Summary: Based on a statement made by DDA Rios that got a reaction from Sharon, but wasn't followed up on...


At the knock on the door, Sharon looked up and nodded. "Thank you Lieutenant." Her eyes shifted to the woman standing slightly behind Andy Flynn. "DDA Rios. Thanks for coming by."

"I didn't have much choice." Stepping around Flynn, she waited as he closed the door. "You requested my presence?"

"I did." Sharon met Flynn and Provenza's eyes briefly through the glass before the two men nodded at her and returned to their desks. "Have a seat, Emma."

Rios' eyebrow raised. "First name basis, Sharon?"

"No." Sharon opened the left drawer on her desk and pulled out a folder, placing it on the desk before resting her hands on top of it. "Have a seat, Emma." She waited as Emma opened her mouth and took a breath before thinking better of it and sitting in front of the desk. "We never finished a conversation we had the other day, the one before Lieutenant Flynn...well, you know."

"We resolved the case." Emma crossed her arms. "What else is there to discuss."

"You know," Ignoring the younger woman's comment, Sharon tilted her head slightly as she gazed at her. "I wondered about the comment you threw out. About witnesses being protected."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "It was a valid point."

"And I wondered," Sharon continued, "about your wording of the statement. About how the young, cute, blonde ones get adopted."

"I was..." her voice trailed off.

"Judgemental?" Sharon nodded, "presumptious, speaking without thinking? Rather unexpected for you. Almost as if something hit too close to home."

"It was just a statement." Emma lifted her chin defiantly.

"You are aware what division I was in before...transitioning to Major Crimes." Sharon opened the file in front of her.

"FID." Emma shrugged. "For the LAPD."

"Yes. Well." Sharon looked at the folder. "You have a brother."

Emma's eyes widened as she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. "You had no right..."

"To review your personnel file?" Sharon leaned back in her chair. "It's a matter of public record."

"I have two brothers and a sister." After eyeing Sharon for a long moment, Emma shrugged. "Like you said, public record."

"I went into Internal Affairs years ago so I could raise my family. Among other reasons." Absently, she turned a page in the file. "I see a lot of the same determination in you that someone saw in me right after I changed divisions all those years ago." Her lips twitched. "I wanted to make a difference. To challenge all those standard 'old boys club' guidelines the force was still operating under. No matter what anyone said about me."

"And you did." Emma leaned back in her chair, still uncertain of which way the conversation was going. "I've heard the stories, how even as you went up through the ranks you still worked on getting other women the same chances as their male counterparts. Encouraged them, worked behind the scenes. Even as recent as the Chief of Police search last year. "

"A word here or there." Sharon gestured absently, then gazed out the window of her office toward one of the whiteboards across the main room. "I was...working with Major Crimes for some time while in FID. I came in the room one day and found some...lovely things on the whiteboard about me. Totally inappropriate, and not applicable to the case, or the situation. Chief Johnson and I rarely saw eye to eye completely, although I ended up enjoying the time I spent working with her and the team she'd put together." At Emma's sigh, she refocused her gaze. "There's a point."

"I suppose." Emma crossed her arms. "I do have work to do."

"I'm sure you do." She leaned forward on the desk, her folded hands on the open folder. "And then I was reassigned to the division. Lots of politics, in several different areas. But among the strengths I brought to the unit was the ability to look at situations from different angles, different points of view, as well as the ability to research and utilize my resources effectively, and not make snap decisions or reactions. In addition to the fact that I know the rules, and I stick to them, I'm a damned good police officer." She looked down at the folder. "I was curious about you. About why you became a lawyer, and moreso, why you are so passionate about your cases. Or, as it pertains to certain cases in which our points of view collide."

"He shouldn't be living with you." She stated flatly, her eyes hard. "I've told you, your superiors, my superiors..."

"And yet he's still with me." Sharon let her eyes wander through the squad room again, meeting Provenza's eyes briefly before moving on, "and with the rest of the squad. I happen to be the one with the room, the resources, and the ability to have a flexible enough schedule to be a feasible foster parent. However, while under my roof, Rusty has come to respect the rest of the squad as his extended family, and to be treated as an individual, with feelings, problems, emotions like any other teenager, as well as being given restrictions as would any other teenager, albeit more restrictive, and for different reasons. And be respected for the fact that unlike any other teenager, he was forced to do things neither you nor I could ever have imagined doing to survive. And yet, he never gave up hope that he would one day be part of a family. A family that sets boundaries, expectations, and supports him to the best of their abilities. The same thing that any ward of the state could hope for."

"And yet, no other wards of the state have found their way to your doorstep or guest room before this." Emma shook her head. "Until this convenient witness."

"Until this situation, I dealt primarily with other law enforcement officials." She gazed levelly at the other woman. "And the fall out from their...incidents. The time I spent with Chief Johnson and her team was...enlightening, to say the least. I realized what I'd missed about active field work. However." Sharon glanced at the papers in front of her for a moment before looking back at Emma. "I hadn't expected Rusty to be with me for more than a day or so. It wasn't until the case continued to develop and he began to open up to all of us that it was decided that he would remain with me. When he came home with me the first few nights, he wouldn't even take the spare room. Just lived on the couch, with his backpack. Until his mother...and the squad was there for him. Not for some 'cute blonde boy', but for an amazingly resilient young man who was fighting to find who he could be when he was allowed to be himself. Not a random witness who refused to follow directions, continued to contact people from his past, and ignored the directives the police and the DA gave him to follow."

Emma flushed. "I've no idea what you're talking about."

Sharon turned a page and gazed at a paragraph. "The officer lost sight of the witness, who had eluded the police escort he had been directed to remain with, and was found three hours after last sighted. He had been left unconscious in an alley, and was rushed to the nearest medical facility, where he was treated for numerous contusions all over his entire body, a broken femur and collarbone, dislocated shoulder, compound fracture of his right leg...and there are additional injuries, but you know about that." She looked up at Emma. "You visited him in the hospital, you and your brother. He was your brother's best friend."

"He was denied police protection." Emma burst out, standing and slamming her hands down on the desk between them. "He was asked to give up his past, testify, and not given police protection."

"I'm surprised." Sharon glanced out the window, where Flynn and Provenza had both stood, looking in her direction. Shaking her head at them, she returned her attention to the angry woman in front of her as they slowly returned to their seats. "You never requested the file?"

"I wasn't able..." Her voice trailed off. "Javier was never the same after the attack. He testified, but it didn't matter. They still got off. He had to leave..."

"Your brother's best friend was offered protection. I am able to research old cases, and I would assume that you would be able to keep this confidential information to yourself." Sharon turned the folder around so Emma could read it. "He declined. Stated he could protect himself. The police attempted to provide plainsclothes protection, but he continually took steps to elude them. It wasn't denied, DDA Rios. It was refused. And in the closed trial, he refused to give the testimony he'd originally stated he would. Changed his story after this attack, which as you'll see, was one of only several times he eluded or ignored the police, and paid for it." She fell silent as Emma read the papers in front of her, watching as the other woman sank back down into her chair, the folder in her hands.

"No." Emma murmured, shaking her head as she sank down into her seat. "He said..."

"He wanted to walk the line between the two. Witness and participant." Sharon stated softly. "An effective witness can't. They have to decide which side they're going to take. And be willing to be brave enough to decide what they aren't going to do. I'm not saying Javier wasn't brave, but he wasn't willing to commit. That's what makes the difference for who I choose to open my home to. The willingness to commit, and the bravery to face what is being challenged head on, and the strength to face it on his, on their own."

"I didn't...he didn't...and then..." Emma slowly replaced the folder. "It still doesn't change the fact that I still see Rusty living with you as a conflict of interest."

"As well you should." At Emma's look of surprise, Sharon smiled slightly. "Because you will then know how to work with Rusty to effectively prepare him for cross examination. Because you and I both know that Phillip Stroh's lawyer will eat him alive on that stand if you don't prepare him. And if his family..." her gaze moved past Emma to sweep across the squad room again, "and if his family isn't there to be there for him when he comes off that stand, you will be there to give him the support and encouragement he'll need. You need to have him accept what is going to be said about who he was, what he did, and why he did it. And then accept that, that is who he was. And who he was is part of who he is."

"And if he doesn't want you and the others to be there when he testifies?" Emma raised an eyebrow. "He didn't want you there when he talked with me."

"Then we'll respect his wishes and leave the room." Sharon picked the file folder and returned it to a drawer in the desk, before returning her gaze to meet Emma's. "And then we'll support him however he'll let us, and take him out to dinner. And remind him of who he is."

"And you won't interfere?" Emma frowned slightly.

"Not unless you cross the line." Her lips twitched. "Will I argue with you and defend him? Of course I will. Same as I would with my family, as well as my squad, even God help me, Provenza. And you'll call me on it. Or, DDA Hobbs will. That's your job. Ours is to get you your evidence. We all have our roles to play." Standing, she pulled on her blazer and buttoned it. "We're going out to the diner around the corner for a drink. You're welcome to join us."

"I'm sorry?" Emma blinked.

"I said, we're going to get a drink at the diner around the corner. It was Buzz's turn to choose where to go, he wanted a shake." Sharon smiled. "You're welcome to join us."

"Oh." Emma stood and moved toward the door. "Um. I have an appointment."

"Offer stands." Sharon locked her desk and picked up her purse. "I'll have Julio add you to the e-mail list. He sends it out when we have these impromptu dinners."

"Thank you. Captain." Emma opened the door and looked over her shoulder. "For the invite, and the conversation."

"You're welcome." Sharon switched off the light and followed her into the squad room. "DDA Rios."


End file.
